At second base, Jason Kipnis has been first-rate -- even if All-Star voters aren't noticing

The Indians haven't had a position player voted by the fans to start the All-Star game since Juan Gonzalez in 2001.Jason Kipnis deserves to join the club, but he has no chance.Kipnis couldn't have had a much better June — he batted .419 with a 1.216 OPS — and he couldn't play a much worse position when it comes to trying to win the fan vote in the American League.The Yankees' and Red Sox's best position players — Robinson Cano and Dustin Pedroia — just so happen to man the same spot as Kipnis.That alone eliminates any chance the latter has of being selected to start the All-Star game.When the All-Star voting was released last week, Cano and Pedroia, predictably, were running away with the top two second-base spots in the AL.Kipnis didn't even crack the top five — he apparently couldn't measure up to Texas' Ian Kinsler (.283, seven homers, 29 RBI), Detroit's Omar Infante (.299, five homers, 24 RBI) and Houston's Jose Altuve (.292, three homers, 27 RBI).Regardless of the arbitrary nature of the fans' All-Star voting, Kipnis — even if the AL roster is forced to include three second basemen — would seem to be a lock to make the team.

In June, he had 17 runs, four homers, 25 RBI and nine steals. He got on base more than half the time — his OBP was .517 — and his slugging percentage was a ridiculous .699.For the season, Kipnis is hitting .299 with 12 homers, 51 RBI, 19 steals and a .917 OPS.He leads all AL second basemen in RBI, he leads all MLB second basemen in steals and OPS, and he's second to Cano among AL second basemen in homers.If you take a balanced view of each players' numbers, Kipnis, barring a collapse over the next two weeks, would probably earn a slight nod over Cano (.287, 17 homers, 48 RBI, five steals, 44 runs, .866 OPS) and Pedroia (.322, five homers, 47 RBI, 11 steals, 53 runs, .843 OPS) for the best at his position in baseball.Kipnis probably won't be voted in as an All-Star starter as long as Cano and Pedroia are excelling for the Yankees and Red Sox, but the Indians will surely settle for a 26-year-old making $504,900 (almost $10.5 million less than Nick Swisher) being included in the discussion.

Don't forget Cabrera

Juan Gone wasn't the last Tribe position player to start the All-Star game.In 2011, Asdrubal Cabrera was selected to start at shortstop for the AL when Derek Jeter pulled out of the contest because of a calf injury.That season, Cabrera batted .293 with 14 homers, 51 RBI and an .836 OPS in the first half of the season. He slumped in the second half — hitting .244 with a .729 OPS — but finished the year with career highs in homers (25) and RBI (92).

Motoring to town

The Indians' 28th-place attendance should get a big jolt this weekend, when the Tigers come to town for four games — the first of which, Friday, includes the coveted dollar dog and fireworks combination.Only five of the Tribe's 38 home games have produced crowds of 25,000 or more.

It shouldn't be too much to expect that the holiday weekend, combined with a first-place battle against the Tigers, results in that total increasing by at least two by the end of the week.

The silly season begins

The Cavs are entering free agency with more than $20 million in salary cap space, but we shouldn't expect any major splashes — unless it's a trade for a big-time player (such as the Lakers' Pau Gasol) with a contract that is set to expire at the end of the season.The Cavs, not counting their three draft picks, have six players under contract — Anderson Varejao, Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Dion Waiters, Alonzo Gee and Tyler Zeller — at a combined $28.1 million for 2013-14.Over the weekend they declined to give Wayne Ellington a $3.1 million qualifying offer, and Marreese Speights elected to explore free agency. Omri Casspi is gone, too, but that was a given.Speights was scheduled to make $4.5 million, which he might not be able to match on the market, but he apparently didn't want to compete for minutes in the frontcourt with Anthony Bennett, Thompson, Varejao and Zeller.Any moves the Cavs make will be with two things in mind — contending for a postseason spot this season, and saving enough cap space to offer a maximum contract in the summer of 2014.Contracts can't be signed until July 10, but I'd expect GM Chris Grant to wait until the early flurry subsides before striking.Next summer, his approach likely will be the opposite.You can follow me on Twitter for sports information and analysis, but not a breakdown of Juan Gonzalez's lone season with the Tribe.

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